Ninety-two countries include livestock in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) to climate change mitigation. However, many countries cannot document livestock emission reductions through productivity gains and more efficient farm management because of simple reporting systems and insufficient data. As countries begin to implement their NDCs, there is strong interest and need to improve methods for measuring, reporting and verifying (MRV) emission reductions in the livestock sector.

“Our research found that of 140 countries interviewed, only five have MRV methods in place that can capture reductions in livestock emissions related to increases in productivity or improvements in agricultural management practices”, lead author Andreas Wilkes, UNIQUE Forestry and Land Use, said.

Harry Clark, Co-chair of the GRA’s Livestock Research Group and Director of the New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre, commented, “This is a major concern for countries who are working hard to meet climate goals while at the same time ensuring food security, rural development and livelihoods. Improving the productivity of livestock systems and increasing resource use efficiency is a critical entry point that can help achieve all of these objectives, but current reporting systems can’t capture these achievements.”

The paper describes basic requirements for MRV as established in the UNFCCC and the IPCC and then assesses current MRV practices for livestock emissions in 140 developing countries.

“Countries are innovating in exciting ways that reflect their own policy priorities. Sharing these innovations will help other countries identify pathways for improving their own systems”, said Lini Wollenberg, leader of the CCAFS Low Emissions Development research program based at the University of Vermont’s Gund Institute for Environment. “Key challenges are a lack of data and expertise and uncertainty about how to fill data gaps and best build capacity in key institutions”.

The report makes a number of practical recommendations to help address these issues. These include:

Document and share examples of the approaches countries have taken in developing Tier 2 inventories, specifically, and improving their MRV systems in general

Develop specific guidance on uncertainty analysis, how to deal with data gaps, transparency and quality assurance/quality control

Support piloting and testing of MRV systems at the national and sub-national levels

The GRA and CCAFS are now working together with partner countries and other organisations such as the FAO, the UN Environment Programme’s Climate and Clean Air Coalition, and the World Bank to implement the report’s findings.